Indirect Speech in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese indirect speech reports a message without quoting the speaker's exact words. Use que before statements (Disse que estava cansada), se before yes/no questions (Perguntou se eu podia ir), and para + infinitive for many commands (Disse-me para esperar). After a past reporting verb, the reported verb often shifts to an earlier or more hypothetical tense.

Overview

Discurso indireto, or indirect speech, lets you pass on what somebody said, asked, answered, requested, or ordered. Direct speech repeats the original words: A Rita disse: “Estou ocupada.” Indirect speech places the message inside a new sentence: A Rita disse que estava ocupada. The part beginning with que is a subordinate clause (a smaller sentence that depends on the main sentence).

This is a core B1 skill because real conversations constantly involve relaying information: telling a colleague what a client said, explaining what a doctor recommended, or reporting a friend's question. It builds especially on the pretérito imperfeito, the imperfect past tense used for ongoing states and situations in the past. In Ela disse que estava doente, estava presents being ill from the viewpoint of the past conversation.

English-speaking learners will recognize much of the logic: “I am tired” can become “He said he was tired.” There are important differences, however. Portuguese normally keeps que where conversational English may omit “that,” uses se for both “if” and “whether” in reported yes/no questions, and commonly reports instructions with para + infinitive.

How It Works

Statements: reporting verb + que

A reported statement usually follows this pattern:

subject + reporting verb + que + reported clause

• O Pedro diz: “Venho amanhã.” → O Pedro diz que vem amanhã.
• O Pedro disse: “Venho amanhã.” → O Pedro disse que vinha no dia seguinte.

Common reporting verbs include:

Portuguese	Basic meaning	Typical use
dizer	to say; to tell	Neutral reporting
afirmar	to state; to claim	More formal or emphatic
explicar	to explain	Reporting an explanation
responder	to answer	Reporting a reply
contar	to tell; to recount	News, stories, or experiences
admitir	to admit	Reporting reluctant acknowledgment

Unlike English “say” and “tell,” Portuguese dizer can be used with or without the person receiving the message: Disse que não vinha (“He said he wasn't coming”) and Disse-me que não vinha (“He told me he wasn't coming”). The pronoun me is an indirect object (the person who receives the message).

When the reporting verb is present

With a present reporting verb such as diz or pergunta, the original tense generally remains appropriate:

Direct message	Indirect report
“Estou cansado.”	Diz que está cansado.
“Vou telefonar.”	Diz que vai telefonar.
“Já terminei.”	Diz que já terminou.

Pronouns still change to match the new speaker's viewpoint. If João says “Eu estou cansado”, another person reports O João diz que ele está cansado—or simply O João diz que está cansado when the subject is clear.

Tense shifts after a past reporting verb

When the reporting verb is past—often disse, perguntou or respondeu—Portuguese commonly moves the reported tense back. This is sometimes called backshift, meaning that the event is presented from a past viewpoint.

Original form	Common form after a past reporting verb	Example
Present: estou	Imperfect: estava	Disse que estava cansada.
Present progressive: estou a trabalhar / estou trabalhando	Imperfect progressive: estava a trabalhar / estava trabalhando	Explicou que estava a trabalhar.
Preterite: fiz	Pluperfect: tinha feito	Disse que já tinha feito tudo.
Present perfect: tenho estudado	Pluperfect: tinha estudado	Disse que tinha estudado muito.
Future: farei	Conditional: faria	Prometeu que faria isso.
ir + infinitive: vou sair	Imperfect of ir: ia sair	Disse que ia sair.

The pluperfect (tinha feito) describes something completed before another past point. The conditional (faria, viria) is the form often used for a future event viewed from the past: Disse que viria means that coming was still in the future when the person spoke.

These shifts are common, not blind substitutions. If information is still true or the speaker wants to present it as a current fact, a present tense may remain:

• A professora disse que a água ferve a 100 °C. — The statement is a general fact.
• O Rui disse que mora em Braga. — This can suggest that Rui still lives there.
• O Rui disse que morava em Braga. — This presents the situation from the past, without confirming whether it remains true.

Reported yes/no questions: se

A question that can be answered “yes” or “no” is introduced by se (“if/whether”):

• “Estás livre?” → Perguntou se eu estava livre.
• “Vocês já comeram?” → Ela perguntou se nós já tínhamos comido.

The reported clause uses statement word order. Do not copy English question structure, and do not add a question mark unless the whole sentence is itself a direct question:

• Ele perguntou se eu precisava de ajuda.
• Sabes se ele perguntou se eu precisava de ajuda?

Information questions: keep the question word

Questions beginning with quem (who), onde (where), quando (when), como (how), qual (which), or another question expression keep that expression:

• “Onde moras?” → Perguntou onde eu morava.
• “Quando chegam?” → Quis saber quando eles chegavam.
• “Por que razão saíste?” → Perguntou por que razão eu tinha saído.

Do not add se when a question word already introduces the reported question.

Commands, requests, and advice

A frequent pattern for reporting an instruction is:

dizer/pedir + person + para + infinitive

• “Espera aqui.” → Disse-me para esperar ali.
• “Não abram a janela.” → Pediu-lhes para não abrirem a janela.

Portuguese has a personal infinitive, an infinitive that can show its own subject through an ending. After para, a plural form such as abrirem or chegarmos can make the intended person explicit: Pediu-nos para chegarmos cedo. In simpler sentences, an uninflected infinitive is also often heard: Pediu-nos para chegar cedo.

Another pattern uses que + subjunctive. The subjunctive is a verb form used when a statement is presented as desired, requested, uncertain, or otherwise not simply asserted as fact:

• Pediu que eu esperasse. — She asked me to wait.
• Ordenou que saíssemos. — He ordered us to leave.
• Recomendou que não conduzissem à noite. — She recommended that they not drive at night.

Adjusting person, place, and time

Indirect speech reports from a new viewpoint, so more than the verb tense may change.

In the original message	Possible reported form	Why
eu / meu	ele, ela / dele, dela	The speaker has changed
aqui	ali / lá	The reporter is elsewhere
hoje	naquele dia	Reporting on a later day
amanhã	no dia seguinte	The original “tomorrow” has moved
ontem	no dia anterior / na véspera	The original “yesterday” has moved
agora	naquele momento / então	The report looks back from a later time
este / esta	esse / essa or aquele / aquela	The object is no longer equally near

These changes depend on the real situation. If you are still in the same place on the same day, aqui and hoje can remain perfectly logical.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
A Marta diz que vem de comboio.	Marta says she is coming by train.	Present report; no backshift needed
O André respondeu que não sabia.	André answered that he did not know.	Statement with que
Ela disse que viria no sábado.	She said she would come on Saturday.	Future viewed from the past
Contaram-nos que tinham vendido a casa.	They told us that they had sold the house.	Earlier action in the pluperfect
Perguntou se eu estava livre.	She asked if I was free.	Yes/no question with se
Queria saber se podíamos começar mais cedo.	He/She wanted to know whether we could start earlier.	Polite reported question
O diretor perguntou quando o relatório estaria pronto.	The director asked when the report would be ready.	Question word retained
Perguntaram-me onde eu tinha aprendido português.	They asked me where I had learned Portuguese.	Action before the question
Disse-me para ir embora.	He/She told me to leave.	Command with para + infinitive
A médica pediu-lhe para descansar.	The doctor asked him/her to rest.	Request and recipient pronoun
O professor pediu-nos para entregarmos o trabalho na sexta-feira.	The teacher asked us to hand in the assignment on Friday.	Personal infinitive clarifies we
A mãe disse às crianças que não fizessem barulho.	The mother told the children not to make noise.	Negative instruction with subjunctive
Ele disse ontem que mora em Lisboa.	He said yesterday that he lives in Lisbon.	Present suggests it is still true
Ela explicou que estava a trabalhar naquele momento.	She explained that she was working at that moment.	European Portuguese progressive

Common Mistakes

Omitting que because English can omit “that”

• Wrong: Ela disse estava cansada.
• Right: Ela disse que estava cansada.
• Why: Portuguese normally requires que to introduce a reported statement, even where conversational English says “She said she was tired.”

Using que for a yes/no question

• Wrong: Perguntou que eu estava livre.
• Right: Perguntou se eu estava livre.
• Why: Se introduces an embedded question whose answer could be yes or no. Que introduces a statement.

Keeping direct-question punctuation and shape

• Wrong: Ela perguntou: onde eu morava?
• Right: Ela perguntou onde eu morava.
• Why: This is one declarative sentence reporting a question. The question word remains, but a colon and question mark are not needed.

Treating every past form as the same past

• Wrong: Ele disse que terminou o trabalho antes da reunião.
• Better for clear sequence: Ele disse que tinha terminado o trabalho antes da reunião.
• Why: Tinha terminado clearly places finishing before the later past act of speaking. The preterite can occur in narrative contexts, but it does not mark that time relationship as explicitly.

Forgetting to change the speaker's viewpoint

• Wrong: A Ana disse: “Levo o meu carro.” → A Ana disse que eu levava o meu carro.
• Right: A Ana disse que ela levava o carro dela.
• Why: The original eu and meu refer to Ana, not to the person reporting her words.

Translating English “tell” as an incomplete structure

• Wrong: Disse para esperar when it matters who was told.
• Right: Disse-me para esperar / Disse ao João para esperar.
• Why: Name the recipient with a pronoun or an expression introduced by a when the context does not make that person clear.

Usage Notes

Both European and Brazilian Portuguese use the core patterns with que, se, and para. Pronoun placement differs in everyday use. European Portuguese commonly attaches an unstressed object pronoun after an affirmative past verb: disse-me, perguntou-lhe. Brazilian speech often places it before the verb: me disse, lhe perguntou, and may prefer a full phrase such as disse para mim in informal conversation. These are register and regional choices; the reporting structure itself remains the same.

For an ongoing action, European Portuguese typically uses estar a + infinitive (disse que estava a trabalhar), while Brazilian Portuguese normally uses estar + gerund (disse que estava trabalhando). Learn to recognize both and choose one variety consistently in your own speech.

The verb falar means “to speak” or “to talk” and can introduce a topic or reproduce conversational content, especially in Brazil. For neutral reported statements, however, dizer que is the safest general pattern: Ele disse que chegaria cedo. Avoid mapping English “say,” “tell,” “speak,” and “talk” word for word without checking the complete Portuguese construction.

Backshift is sensitive to meaning. Portuguese speakers do not mechanically move every verb into the past. Keeping the present can deliberately show that the reporter accepts the information as current: A meteorologista disse que amanhã vai chover. Using a past-oriented form can create more distance: disse que ia chover.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

At higher levels, indirect speech interacts with the subjunctive and with the reporter's attitude. A plain statement after dizer que normally uses the indicative, the set of verb forms used to present information as fact: Disse que vinha. But a denied report or an instruction may trigger the subjunctive:

• Não disse que estivesse doente. — He/She did not say that he/she was ill.
• Disse que fizéssemos silêncio. — He/She told us to be quiet.

The exact mood can alter the message. Disse que ele vinha reports information; disse que ele viesse is understood as an instruction that he should come. This contrast matters more than finding a one-word English equivalent.

Formal writing can use the simple pluperfect—forms such as fizera, partira, and dissera—where everyday language strongly favors tinha feito, tinha partido, and tinha dito: A testemunha afirmou que vira o suspeito (“The witness stated that she had seen the suspect”). Recognize this compact form in journalism and literature; you do not need it for ordinary B1 conversation.

Indirect speech can also signal distance from a claim. Segundo o ministro, a medida será temporária (“According to the minister, the measure will be temporary”) attributes the information without necessarily endorsing it. Verbs such as alegar (“to allege/claim”), garantir (“to assure”), and negar (“to deny”) similarly add the reporter's stance rather than merely transmitting words.

Finally, real speech often uses a vivid free indirect style in narrative, blending a character's viewpoint with third-person narration without disse que. That literary technique belongs beyond the basic reporting patterns, but recognizing it helps when reading fiction.

Practice Tips

1. Transform a short dialogue in three passes. First change statements with que, then questions with se or a question word, and finally commands with para + infinitive. Afterward, check every pronoun and time expression.
2. Build tense pairs aloud. Say “Estou cansado” → disse que estava cansado, “Já comi” → disse que já tinha comido, and “Irei amanhã” → disse que iria no dia seguinte. Repeating whole pairs makes backshift more automatic than memorizing labels.
3. Report something you actually heard. After a podcast or conversation, write three sentences beginning Disse que…, Perguntou se…, and Pediu para…. Then decide whether each fact is still current; that tells you whether backshift is useful rather than merely possible.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Imperfect Tense — the imperfect is central to reporting past states and ongoing situations.
• Useful next step: Future and conditional forms — needed to express a future event viewed from a past moment, as in disse que viria.
• Useful next step: Portuguese subjunctive — used in reported requests, orders, recommendations, and some non-asserted reports.